In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,242 which is incorporated herein by this reference, I have disclosed a series of self-inflating structures made of compressibly resilient foam molded to particular shapes.
The main advantages of those inflating structures is that they can be compressed to a fraction of their size for storage or shipment, then allowed to return to their normal size on demand without having to be fed pressurized fluid. The resilient character of the compressed foam body provides the energy necessary to return the structure to its normal unpressurized size.
The instant invention results from an attempt to improve the compressibility and size restoring potential of such structures through improved manufacturing techniques and choice of materials.